Turkish activists say new flotilla to challenge Israeli blockade

ISTANBUL: A Turkish pro-Palestinian group plans to send aid ships to Gaza to challenge the Israeli blockade, it said on Monday, four years after Israeli commandos stormed its flotilla bound for the territory, killing 10 Turks.The plan may hinder efforts to rebuild shattered diplomatic ties between Turkey and Israel, just as Ankara launched an “air corridor” carrying wounded Palestinians to Turkey and aid to Gaza.The Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH) announced that activists from 12 countries had decided to launch a convoy of boats to Gaza “in the shadow of the latest Israeli aggression.“The Freedom Flotilla Coalition affirmed that, as most governments are complicit, the responsibility falls on civil society to challenge the Israeli blockade on Gaza,” it said in a statement after the group met in Istanbul at the weekend.An IHH spokeswoman did not elaborate but said the group would hold a news conference on Tuesday. Turkish Foreign Ministry officials had no immediate comment.